I'm guessing it's perfectly possible that Pickering Town Council either genuinely didn't realise that their Andrew Husband was also James Andrew Husband of York, the Accused, or else that some of the town councillors (and Rotarians) did know of the charges but had been convinced by Husband himself that it was all nonsense and a complete fabrication, as would in due course be revealed in court. He himself may even have believed that he could never be found guilty, because as far as he could see it was only a case of one person's word against another's. Evidently he reckoned without the highly emotive 'beard rash' thing and the taint of his having supposedly been a close associate of the monstrous Dobbie.

What with the innocent until proven guilty concept, the most the Town Council could've done pre-verdict was to suspend him on full pay whilst awaiting the outcome of the case, which it appears they chose not to do, for whatever reason. As aforesaid, his employers may not even have known that he was THE James Andrew Husband until very recently. Not everyone is as bright as a button, after all, and presumably the Andrew Husband they knew was the sort of decent, upright citizen who could never in a million years have committed the type of offences he was accused of.

It occurs to me that the reason Husband wasn't suspended on full pay may simply have been that town councils are shoestring operations these days and Pickering Town Council simply couldn't afford to pay wages to a replacement town clerk whilst continuing to pay Husband's presumably meagre stipend. If the job doesn't involve contact with minors and vulnerable adults, Husband wouldn't have been seen as posing any sort of hypothetical threat to anyone.

You are right Spoony that Pickering Council runs on a shoestring. The budget is not a lot and Husband topped hi salary up by auditing the accounts for other local parish councils for abut £80-£100 a shot.

The staff costs for the year to 31st March 2018 were £53,202 which includes Husband's salary.

It looks like they've been quietly working round Husband for some time.

This is from the minutes of a council meeting in January 2018. Note that the bank account signatories were 2 councillors and the assistant town clerk.

The council decided that it would
• close both its current and reserve accounts with NatWest Bank Plc;
• open online banking accounts with Barclays Plc;
• appoint Councillors Armstrong and Stott and Mrs A Dawson as authorised persons.
The decision had been taken because the council’s bankers, NatWest Bank Plc, were closing
the Pickering branch. The council considered online banking with NatWest but decided
against doing so: the bank only required one mandatory and it was thought that being
responsible for public money meant that only one mandatory was insufficient.

Looking at what the council is responsible for (street lights, play areas and dog bins) it's kind of hard to see why being Town Clerk would be any more than a 2 day a week job.

This is from the minutes of a council meeting in January 2018. Note that the bank account signatories were 2 councillors and the assistant town clerk.

The council decided that it would
• close both its current and reserve accounts with NatWest Bank Plc;
• open online banking accounts with Barclays Plc;
• appoint Councillors Armstrong and Stott and Mrs A Dawson as authorised persons.
The decision had been taken because the council’s bankers, NatWest Bank Plc, were closing
the Pickering branch. The council considered online banking with NatWest but decided
against doing so: the bank only required one mandatory and it was thought that being
responsible for public money meant that only one mandatory was insufficient.

IF that was a complete extract of the relevent bits, as a banker (retired) I would not be satisfied. The minutes should state the number of people to sign and if there are specific controls (ie a Councillor plus authorised person or whether two councillors can sign or limits on amounts - as examples).

The Council solicitors should have put them straight;....

For prevention of fraud it should also name the persons required to open the new account(s) who would not necessarily include the day-to-day signatories (it would be easy for Joe Snooks and Freda Fuzmaculander to simply walk in to the bank and claim to be council officers - I have heard of that happening in respect of major companies and also (beleive it or not) Mr In Land Revenue!

My husband was a Rotarian for many years. In the U.K. The Paul Harris Award is not given lightly. If I recall correctly, the Rotary Club has to give Rotary's own Foundation US$1000 before it can nominate somebody they consider outstanding to receive the award. The fact that Pickering Rotary Club gave him such an award means they did think highly of him, at the time.

I have no idea whether there is anyway an award can be recalled later.